It seems at times that everything is connected. Might not be a deep, profound connection, but patterns are everywhere.At least I see them.
For example, when we were in DC in mid-February, I picked up something to read at Kramer Books (one of my all time favorite book stores). The title caught my eye - An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke.
The reviews included in the paperback edition from, among others, The New Yorker ("A deadpan satire of all things literary") and the Utne Reader ("A witty, intensely clever piece of writing that scrutinizes our relationship with stories and storytelling") indicated that the read would be entertaining.
I bought the book and brought it home but didn't get around to starting it for a couple weeks. Now here comes the connection - I started reading the book on a Saturday afternoon.
The next morning, the Chicago Tribune had an article in the Travel section about the Agatha Christie home in South Devon, England which has just been restored and opened to the public. The ground floors will be open to visitors while several rooms on the top two floors will be available for vacation rentals. I'm pretty sure the vacation rooms come without dead bodies.I'm sure no one else would see a connection here, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about authors' homes and to find myself reading a book and an article not related to the book about them in the space of 24 hours was odd.
If you don't plan to be in South Devon soon and want to know more about the house, see the link here: http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art30570
Btw, the Arsonist's Guide is definitely entertaining - there were more than a couple things that made me laugh. But it's also pretty dark. Despite the great writing and the pretty funny situations that the main character gets himself into, I had this sense of foreboding and overall unhappiness the whole time I was reading.
Check out the website to read the first chapter and find out more about the author - he did some posts while on tour in 2008 that were pretty amusing.
http://arsonistsguide.com/index.html
2 comments:
I'm definitely going to read this . . . though I get what you're saying about the sadness from just the first part of the first chapter. Thanks for the recommendation! JFC
I'm assuming this is Jan - if yes, I'll drop off my copy for you next time I'm downtown. I'm still not sure how I feel about the book - you'll have to let me know what you think once you've read it.
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